The new Macau Roosevelt hotel at Macau Jockey Club will likely boast 25 to 35 gaming tables and around 100 slot machines, according to analysts, when it opens its doors in the coming months.
With the property in Taipa having recently confirmed its intention to host a satellite casino – as well as a move from casino management services under Paradise Entertainment to a revenue sharing agreement with Paradise’s LT Game – Union Gaming predicts the Roosevelt casino facilities will be “significantly larger” than previously.
“We believe the new casino at Roosevelt is significantly larger in size than its predecessor and will have a much greater focus on table games,” said Union Gaming Managing Director and Head of Equity Research Macau, Grant Govertsen. “We estimate it could have 25 to 35 tables and around 100 slots. This compares to the equivalent of just four live tables at the predecessor casino and therefore suggests that it will need a greater allocation of tables than are currently operating at the site. Under the assumption that the Roosevelt casino is with a new service provider entity, the tables would either need to come from SJM’s existing inventory or from the government.”
Assuming yet-to-open Integrated Resorts MGM Cotai and Grand Lisboa Palace each receive 150 new to market tables, Govertsen believes the new Roosevelt casino could benefit from an estimated 482 surplus tables under the government’s table cap allocation through 2022.
However, he also points to the possibility of junkets being part of its plans.
“The service provider casino segment as a whole continues to struggle (SJM’s satellite casino segment GGR -16% in 2016 vs rest of market -1.7%), which we would attribute in large part to outdated facilities and lack of amenities,” he said.
“While we don’t expect a renaissance in service provider casinos, there likely exists some format(s) where there can be pockets of success. With this in mind we would not be surprised if the new casino at Roosevelt were to have a unique junket focus (junket insiders have been publicly talking about gaming there for some time now) …”
The Macau Roosevelt hotel will have around 350 five-star hotel rooms when it opens.
